The present invention relates to the structure of a vehicle body, and more particularly relates to the structure of the roof panel of a vehicle.
Often, even between different versions of the same model of automobile, the exact configuration of the roof panel of the vehicle, and particularly of the gutter of the vehicle, differs markedly. FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of this. In FIG. 1A, the rear end of the gutter is some distance in front of the rear end of the side edge of the roof. In FIG. 1B, on the other hand, the rear end of the gutter is substantially at the rear end of the side edge of the roof. Therefore, different structures must be employed for the roof panel, in line with these different gutter structures.
For example, FIGS. 2B and 3B show the construction of a roof panel of the sort which is mated with a gutter which extends all the way to the rear end of the side edge of the roof. Herein a flange 15 is formed along the entire length of the side portion 12 formed on the side of the roof panel 11. As can be seen in section in FIG. 3B, this flange 15 is welded to the upper surface of the gutter 13, which itself has been welded to the side of the vehicle, and particularly to the side pillar of the vehicle 14. Consequently, the roof and the rear pillar of the vehicle are only indirectly joined.
On the other hand, FIGS. 2A and 3A show the construction of a roof panel of the sort which is mated with a gutter which extends backwards ony to a point somewhat forward of the rear end of the side edge of the roof. In this case the flange 5, which corresponds to the flange 15 of FIGS. 2B and 3B, extends only back to the rear end of the gutter. Behind this point, the side portion 2 of the roof is formed with an indented area 7 which is displaced towards the center line of the vehicle, inwards from the general side line of the roof. As may be seen in FIG. 3A, this indented area 7 is directly welded to the rear pillar 4 of the vehicle, at a joining portion 6, and then the recess remaining is filled in with a filling 9 to produce a good visual effect. The indentation of this area 7 is essential, in order to allow for this filling up process. As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, a step portion 8, 18 is formed by a plurality of longitudinal folds, to improve strength of the roof, and as a mark for determining position during pressing.
Consequently, if different versions of the same model of automobile are being produced, which have different length gutters, different dies for shaping the roof panel must be used. This means high cost, and high use of factory space.